Bumblebee re-introduction plan

Scientists have discovered that the key to getting captive short-hair bumblebees to thrive in a new habitat is simply feeding them what they want to eat.

Project officer of a scheme to reintroduce the bumblebee to the UK, Nikki Gammans, stated that the bumblebee is simply a ‘fussy eater’ due to the fact that it only will eat fresh pollen on a daily basis.

Thus, when presented with the fresh pollen from other bees on a regular basis, it will stick around.
Gammans learned the trick from a bee trainer in the Czech Republic and plans to fly to New Zealand in November where she will collect pollen for about four to eight weeks depending on how long it takes to collect fresh pollen from the bumblebees’ legs.

After enough is acquired she will head back to the UK with queen bumblebees and release them into the wild.

According to Gammans, New Zealand has plans to start diminishing the amount of Viper’s bugloss, a popular plant the bees pollinate off of, so she has to make the trip now or the short-haired bumblebee species may be lost altogether.

If the project works, Gammans stated that this will be the first time the UK has ever been able to reintroduce an extinct species to the region by using descendents of the species.

Upon arrival the bees will be released in Dungeness, Kent because this is the last area they were reported to have been seen in the UK. The last time the bee has been noted in the UK was in 2000.
The project to revive the bees in England is sponsored and run by a partnership between the RSPB, Natural England, Hymettus, and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.